[webkit-dev] A Media Element ie: <Audio> or <video>, without tabindex cannot be selected with keyboard (TAB Key). BUG: 67190

[Deepak Sherveghar]

Hi All,

As with current Webkit behavior, only media elements with tab-index
attribute specified can be focused with keyboard (TAB key).

>From a usability as well as accessibility perspective, we should be able to
focus (via keyboard using TAB key)
media elements that have controls attribute specified but do not have a
tab-index attribute specified.
ie: <video controls src="../media/content/test.mp4"></video>  //should be
focused by tabbing.

This would help in making the media element keyboard accessible.

Firefox and Opera both support this behavior ie:  focus media element by
tabbing without the need for tab-index.
you can verify this using the link :
http://yves.vg/testcases/webkit/video.html
I have already implemented this and uploaded my patch in BUG 67190.
My approach to support this is as follows:
In HTMLMediaElement.cpp., add

bool HTMLMediaElement::supportsFocus() const
{
      // Return true if control attribute present else If no controls
specified, we should still be able to focus the element if it has tabIndex.
     return controls() || HTMLElement::supportsFocus();
}

Antonio Gomes suggested that "since my patch would be changing a general
behavior of all webkit based browsers
(and according to the spec it is up to the UA to implement that or not), we
could have a discussion in webkit-dev mailing list first."

Also Ian 'Hixie' Hickson is of the opinion that:
"Whether something is "interactive content" or not has no bearing on whether
it is focusable or not: the definition of focusable doesn't
 refer to whether something is "interactive content":
http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/complete.html#focusable
Whether something should be focusable or not is essentially up to the
browser vendor (you). I would recommend making it possible
to focus video controls if they are present, of course. But that's not a
spec conformance matter, it's a usability matter."

According to me, making media element focusable without tab-index (but
control attribute specified), would be first step in making the
media element keyboard accessible which would further help us make the media
element 'Interactive"
(W3C Draft categorizes video and audio in "Interactive Content") using
keyboard (ie play/pause media using space bar)

Need suggestion or feedback on this.
Whether we should go ahead with this or follow any other approach ????

Also a bug on second aspect of media element ie: to make it interactive
using keyboard is already being filled by Yves Van Goethem :
BUG: 31786 : https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=31786. I have marked
31786 bug as dependent on BUG: 67190.

Thanks in advance.
-Deepak Sherveghar
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